


Water Under the Bridge

by elcten881



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Post-Divorce, tzuyu and chaeyoung are nauseatingly sweet, welcomemat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:46:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21694060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elcten881/pseuds/elcten881
Summary: Chaeyoung's getting married and the bride-to-be wanted to meet her parents. Only one problem. Her parents are ex-power couple Yoo Jeongyeon and Im Nayeon who had a famously messy divorce and can now barely be in the same room together.
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Son Chaeyoung, Hirai Momo/Im Nayeon, Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 4
Kudos: 157





	Water Under the Bridge

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to day 2 of me procrastinating instead of getting these 12 updates done.
> 
> These 2yeon divorce prompts were going round for a while.

** **

_Breaking News!_

_Famous power couple Yoo Jeongyeon and Im Nayeon have announced they have filed for divorce. This news comes shortly after the couple were pictured arriving separately to the premier of new film_ _“Twicelights” starring mutual friend, Kim Dahyun. Inside sources have said that the couple, who married eight years ago, avoided each other all night and the few interactions they had were frosty at best. The couple met as trainees and debuted in the internationally recognised girl group 3MIX, as the first lesbian couple in KPop the duo were recognised as icons worldwide. Unfortunately, details surrounding their separation are unknown at this time and both parties have requested privacy for both themselves and their seven year old daughter Chaeyoung (pictured below)._

_However we shall report the details when they are available!_

_____

_Breaking News!_

_Yoo Jeongyeon pictured for the first time since divorce news broke walking into her lawyers office. She was seen holding her hands with her daughter, Chaeyoung aged seven, as she entered. Media were tipped off by an employee that Yoo was attending her divorce lawyer’s office today to finalise the proceedings. News of the Yoo-Im divorce broke six months ago and rumours say that behind the scenes the divorce has been messy. With no public information available we will update you once more information goes public!_

_____

_Breaking News!_

_Photos posted on Im Nayeon’s instagram show family vacation with nine year old daughter, Chaeyoung, and new girlfriend Hirai Momo - famous choreographer. An inside source states that the couple first met when Hirai was choreographing the routine for Im’s latest single. In a statement from Im’s company it is said that the couple had grown close during rehearsals and once the MV had dropped they continued seeing each other. Is a new power couple on the rise? What does Yoo Jeongyeon think of her daughter playing happy families with Hirai?_

_When we have more answers we will post them here, so follow us at @ScrewPivacy for more updates!_

_____

_Breaking News!_

_Yoo Jeongyeon is suing ex-wife Im Nayeon for full custody of daughter, Chaeyoung age nine (pictured below), following photos of “family vacation” surfaced. These pictures showed Im with her daughter and new girlfriend Hirai Momo at Tokyo Disney. No more information is available at this time and both parties have requested privacy with Yoo’s agency giving the statement: “This is a family matter, we ask for you to respect their wishes and allow them to deal with it as such”. While the duo were at the court house today their daughter was taken to school by wife of mutual friend Kim Sana and was retrieved after school by Hirai herself._

_What do you think: Is Yoo Jeongyeon jealous of Chaeyoung’s new step-mom? Or has the messy divorce gotten messier?_

_____

_Breaking News!_

_Im Nayeon publishes tell all book about her life, including spicy details about the Yoo-Im divorce and details about raising her teenage daughter, Chaeyoung aged 15, all alone after gaining full custody. In said book Im describes her past relationship as one that had “grown cold over time” and that Yoo hadn’t even “said she loved [Im] since Chaeyoung was very little”. Yoo hit back at claims in an interview saying that was only one side of the story, alluding to the fact that Im Momo, Nayeon’s second wife, may have been on the scene before the divorce. She claims:_

_“You cannot judge our relationship based on one side of the story, I did love Nayeon - she is the co-mother of my only child and so I always will - however she loved someone else and that someone has made her happier than I did apparently.”_

_Nine years since the apparently messy divorce and finally details are coming out! For more updates as the come follow our new twitter handle: @NoPrivacyForIdols!_

_____

_Breaking News!_

_Yoo-Im Chaeyoung, daughter of famous producer Yoo Jeongyeon and singer Im Nayeon, has filed for emancipation from her parents at age 16. The couple were famed for being a power couple whom suffered a very messy divorce in which Chaeyoung appeared to be at the centre of the chaos. The attempted emancipation comes a year after Im Nayeon released a tell all book about her relationship with Yoo Jeongyeon and being granted sole custody of Chaeyoung. Among the reasons the source gave for the emancipation, the main reason seems to be a “desperate wish to be out of the media’s view” and to “separate [herself] from the mess of [her] parents”._

_Do you think the media should allow privacy to public figures? Let us know below and we’ll post updates when we get them!_

_____

_Breaking News!_

_Yoo Jeongyeon and ex-group mate Park Jihyo spott---_

Chaeyoung sighed and turned off the news, trying to keep her focus on the easel as she gently stroked the blue lines onto the canvas. It was her fault for turning on the news really, she had hoped it’d make for good background noise but she should’ve guess her parents would come into it at some point. They were two of the most famous women in Korea after all, Chaeyoung could move out of the country but they’d still follow her. You never could change your parents and part of Chaeyoung didn’t want to. If she could change anything she would swap the mansions, the expensive trips and thousands of cameras shoved in her face she grew up with for a quiet, normal family life.

As soon as she could she got herself emancipated and changed her name to Son so that nobody would link her back to her parents. At first it didn’t work, her face had been all over tabloids during the divorce and it took a while (and cutting all her hair off when she was eighteen) for everyone to forget her face. Still the moment she graduated high school she went to the furthest college away from Seoul, where she met a beautiful foreign student and fell into that magical story-book love. Tzuyu had worked in a cafe near Chaeyoung’s dorm and the short girl had gone every day with her sketchbook - trying to work up the courage to ask her out.

Tzuyu would always comment on her sketches and so Chaeyoung tried to draw the perfect one to use to woo her, only Tzuyu got bored of waiting and so wrote her phone number on Chaeyoung’s to-go cup. The rest as they say is history! Tzuyu had tearfully told her one night that after graduation she’d be moving back to Taiwan and Chaeyoung had kissed her and declared that she would follow her anywhere. So they moved together to Tainan and bought a tiny two room apartment (the bathroom was more like a closet so didn’t count) near Tzuyu’s nice, normal parents who treated Chaeyoung like their own. She messaged her mothers occasionally, Nayeon was in contact a lot more and Chaeyoung liked Momo enough to contact her regularly.

Momo had gotten wrapped up in everything the same way Chaeyoung had, by being a victim of circumstance. In fact while her Ummas were too busy fighting each other for custody, Momo was the one who would pick her up from school and cook her dinner. It wasn’t that her Ummas didn’t love her enough, they did, it was just they always seemed to use her to hurt each other. It was why she got rid of the Yoo-Im name, she didn’t want to be a pawn any more.

She heard the front door close.

“Chae? I’m home and I bring the gift of groceries!”

Chaeyoung kept her focus on the painting but Tzuyu’s voice still brought a smile to her face. She heard rustling as Tzuyu placed the bags on the counter separating the kitchen and the living room. She made another stroke on the canvas as two long arms hugged her from behind and a little kiss was left under her ear.

“Pay attention to me, I’m needy!” Tzuyu whined,

Chaeyoung chuckled, relaxing back into her arms and setting down the paintbrush, “How was work?”

Tzuyu sighed, “Boring, spent most of it putting up Christmas decorations.”

Tzuyu worked the reception of a local vet, a job she loved but it could be a little slow sometimes.

“What do you think?” Chaeyoung asked, bringing attention to the painting in front of her,

“I know nothing about art but,” Tzuyu nuzzled into her neck, “It looks amazing!”

“You always say that.”

“Because I think everything you make is amazing.” Tzuyu told her, “I wish you’d release this under your own name. You deserve the recognition.”

Chaeyoung used a pseudonym when she published her art, she was making a lot of money from commissions now and even had a gallery exhibit the year before. Until now she had always felt bad that Tzuyu (and her parents) had been funding their lives but now Chae could give back.

“You’re right,” Chaeyoung clicked her tongue, “You do know nothing about art.”

Tzuyu pulled away with a playful hit and went to put away the groceries. After adding one more detail Chaeyoung felt she had done enough today and stood to go put away groceries. Tzuyu had her back to her, putting something on a high shelf and so it was Chaeyoung’s right to smack her butt as she went past. Hands went to defend the attacked butt, small diamond on her ring glittering in the dim kitchen light.

“Hey!” Tzuyu scolded, smile betraying her,

“HeY~” Chaeyoung mimicked taking the coffee out the bag and putting it into the cupboard,

She pulled out the milk and headed to the fridge, stopping for a moment before she closed it again and watching as Tzuyu rubbed sleep from her eyes. When her hands left her face she caught Chaeyoung’s staring and cocked her head in her adorable doe-eyed way.

“What?”

Chaeyoung shook her head, “I love you.”

“Good thing you’re marrying me then.” Tzuyu replied, blushing as she looked at her ring finger,

Chaeyoung had used the money from the exhibit to buy that ring, it wasn’t a hug diamond like Umma Jeongyeon had bought Umma Nayeon but Tzuyu hadn’t minded. It’s one of many reasons why Chaeyoung loved her so much, she never asked for anything and no matter what Chaeyoung gave her Tzuyu would act as though she’d been offered the world. And Chaeyoung wanted too, she wanted to give Tzuyu the whole world but she had to start with that tiny diamond crumb on a ring. When she had popped the question Tzuyu’s face lit up and her eyes welled just as much as they would of if Chaeyoung had put the crown jewels on a wedding band.

Chaeyoung walked towards her and kissed her softly, enjoying the familiar butterflies as they exploded in her stomach like they always did. Tzuyu hummed and muttered an “I love you too” against her lips. When they pulled away Chaeyoung returned to the groceries but she could still feel Tzuyu’s eyes on her, she turned and noticed her girlfriend looking nervous all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong?” Chaeyoung asked,

“N-Nothing, it’s just….” Tzuyu paused, “A-Are you going to invite your Ummas?”

Chaeyoung paused, she may have forgotten that part. She had never introduced Tzuyu to her mothers, it wasn’t that she was embarrassed it was just that for a long time her mothers had ruined the idea of relationships for her. Growing up watching the “messiest divorce ever” happen right in front of her was enough to put anyone off and even after therapy some girls only went after her because they recognised her old photos. Tzuyu hadn’t cared about any of that, it was refreshing but remembering how good she felt when Tzuyu’s parents had welcomed her it made her feel guilty to deny Tzuyu that.

Chaeyoung sighed, “They’ll want to meet you.”

“I want to meet them.” Tzuyu replied, walking over to her, “You have all my embarrassing childhood stories, I need some dirt here.”

Chaeyoung let a smile crack, “I’ll talk to them. Just…don’t dump me when you realise they’re crazy.”

“Oh sweetie,” Tzuyu pecked her softly, “I put up with your crazy all the time and I haven’t run yet!”

She walked out of the kitchen and Chaeyoung just smiled after her, “I’m obviously not trying hard enough!”

God she loved that woman…

___

“ _And I will never look back,_

_I’ll climb higher than ever before,_

_You don’t deserve me that’s a fact,_

_So don’t call me up no more….”_

Jeongyeon nodded along as her latest star sang the track, she was good - more talent than Jeongyeon had seen in a while. The industry may even be kind to her for while, before chewing her up and spitting her out. The way it always did. Luckily, Jeongyeon’s phone vibrating in her pocket distracted her from her depressing inner monologue. Usually if she was with an artist it would stay turned off, however today for whatever reason she had forgotten. She pulled out the device and checked the caller ID, it was like her heart stopped when she read the name.

Chaeyoung never called her. They usually only sent Christmas cards back and fourth or a text here and there when Jeongyeon’s artists won an award or something. Jeongyeon hadn’t seen her since the night of her graduation, she hadn’t attended the event because Nayeon and her bitch would be there. Instead she took her daughter for a fancy private meal with Dahyun and Sana. The fact her daughter was calling her meant one of two things: she was dead or she was dying. Signalling to the booth that she had to take this she walked out into the hall, trusting the booth operator to do his job.

“Chaeyoung?”

“ _Hi Umma…”_

Jeongyeon hated how nervous she sounded.

_“How are you?”_

“I-I’m good, thanks, everything okay?” Jeongyeon asked,

“ _Yeah! Actually, I’m great - things have never been better.”_

“That’s…err…good!”

This was the most awkward phone conversation they had ever had. Including the one where Chaeyoung was asking to be emancipated.

“Not that I don’t love hearing from you Chae, but um…why are you calling?” Jeongyeon winced, she sounded so weird,

_“Well…I’ve been seeing this girl for a while now…”_

“You’ve got a girlfriend!” Jeongyeon shouted suddenly, “What’s her name?”

_“Tzuyu,”_ Chaeyoung sounded as though she was relaxing a little, “ _She’s beautiful Umma, you’re gonna love her!”_

“So when am I meeting this girl?” Jeongyeon asked, beaming smile on her face,

_“Oh well…we’re engaged actually!”_

“Oh…”

“ _And Tzuyu really wants to meet you both before the wedding.”_ Chaeyoung told her, _“Both of you.”_

“Ah, I see why you put off telling me then…”

“ _Umma-”_

“No, no I understand. Does N--your other Umma know?”

_“No I was going to call her next.”_

Score! She told Jeongyeon first!

_“But I would like Tzuyu to meet all of you at the same time. You, Umma and Momo.”_

“What does she need to meet Momo for?”

That home wrecker? Who was she to Chaeyoung anyway!?

_“Because while you and Umma were playing piggy in the middle with custody Momo was the one making sure I didn’t starve.”_

Her gut twisted, she never had been proud of that vicious time. Especially when Chaeyoung was dragged into the middle of everything, she had done that herself with that petty custody battle.

“I can be civil.” Jeongyeon promised, “But may I make a request? If the step-monster is there please invite your Auntie Jihyo and your Auntie Dahyun.”

_“Buffers? Good idea.”_ Chaeyoung hummed, “ _But…I don’t know if Tzuyu and I can afford to go to Seoul.”_

“I can’t come to you Chae,” Jeongyeon sighed, feeling guilty again, “I’ll pay for your tickets and your hotel, I promise.”

_“I don’t know, I don’t like taking hand outs--”_

“It’s not a hand out,” Jeongyeon reasoned, “I want to meet this girl. I haven’t been the best mother but I need to make sure she’s good enough for you.”

Chaeyoung paused, “ _Okay.”_

“Perfect.” Jeongyeon was beaming down the phone again, “I’m excited to see you too.”

_“Same here,”_ Chaeyoung replied quietly, _“It’ll be nice! Anyway I’ll talk to Umma and get back to you.”_

“Okay baby cub,” Jeongyeon used the pet name she had given her as a child, “I’ll await your call.”

_“Okay.”_

“I love you.”

_“I-I love you too, Umma.”_

There was a click as she hung up and Jeongyeon smiled sadly at her phone, she wished Chaeyoung’s ‘I love you’ hadn’t sounded so robotic.

___

“Congratulations Nayeon!” Sana squealed as the group walked into her living room,

Nayeon smiled at her, bringing her latest award to the trophy case. Momo came in last, closing the door and walking over to kiss her wife. Dahyun immediately went to the liquor cabinet and poured everyone some wine. A fancy drink to match their fancy dresses. She walked around giving each woman a glass, sure Nayeon had won a lot of awards over the years but they still celebrated each one. Trophies were like time capsules, she knew where she was in life when she won each one in the case. Like photographs, but made of metal. Nayeon even remembered Jeongyeon holding a toddler Chaeyoung as she put the very first solo award on the top shelf.

They didn’t have many happy memories like that, at least none that sprung to mind immediately.

“To Nayeon!” Jihyo raised her glass, “And her latest single!”

“To Nayeon!” Echoed around the room,

Then the house phone began ringing, Sana leaned over and picked it up.

“Helloooooo?” She hollered down, she had been drinking a little longer than everyone else,

_“Sana Unnie?”_

“Oh my God! Baby Chae!” Sana gulped down some more wine and put it on loud speaker, “Everyone it’s Chaeyoung!”

“My baby!” Nayeon cooed running over to the phone,

_“Umma, how are you?”_

“I’m good baby,” Nayeon was smiling ear to ear, “Are you calling to congratulate me on my award?”

Luckily Nayeon couldn’t see the look being exchanged between Chaeyoung and Tzuyu as the taller girl began googling this award, _“Uhhh…sure! Congratulations!”_

“Aw thank you, darling!”

_“So who am I talking to?”_

“The gang’s all here! Auntie Sana, Dahyun, Jihyo and of course Momo!”

_“Hello everyone, Hi Momo!”_

“Chaeyoung-ah!” Momo cheered back, “How are you?”

_“Good! I actually have some news…”_

Nayeon looked worried for a moment, “Good news or bad news?”

_“Good! Really, really good news!”_ Chaeyoung said quickly, _“I’ve been seeing someone for a while now---”_

“Oh! Baby Chae’s in looooove!” Sana cackled,

“Shh sweetie she’s trying to talk.” Dahyun smiled, hiding frustration,

Nayeon chuckled and began taking another sip of wine.

“ _Actually we’re engaged…”_

Jihyo screamed as she was covered in Nayeon’s spit-take.

“What!? I haven’t even met her yet!” Nayeon cried, “What’s her name? Is she nice to you? She treat you well? If she doesn’t treat you well Chae I’m pretty sure Sana knows people in the Yakuza…”

“I can neither confirm or deny but they will break kneecaps if I smile and bat my eyelids so girl better watch herself.”

“I too will break kneecaps!” Momo called down the phone,

_“Please stop threatening to break her kneecaps,”_ Chaeyoung sighed, chuckling slightly at her girlfriend’s suddenly pale face, “ _She’s lovely, I love her Umma.”_

There was intense whispering from the other end of the phone.

_“Oh she also says: she treats me like a damn princess and I know it.”_

Nayeon smiled, “I’m happy to hear you’re happy Chae. So is this a wedding invitation?”

_“Yes, for all of you actually! But mainly Tzuyu wants to meet you all before the big day and so Umma Jeongyeon offered to pay for us to come to Seoul so---”_

“You’ve spoken to your Umma already?” Nayeon’s voice changed and the atmosphere went cold,

_“Oh…”_ Dammit Chaeyoung rookie mistake, _“Yeah, I saw on twitter you had an event on tonight so I called her because I knew she’d be free.”_

Nayeon took the phone of loud speaker, ignoring Momo when she called her name.

“Chaeyoung, did your mother already know about this woman?”

_“No she only found out an hour or two ago when I called her.”_ Chaeyoung told her honestly, _“Umma, please don’t do this.”_

“Do what darling?”

_“Make this about the two of you,”_ Chaeyoung sighed, “ _Tzuyu wants to meet you both together before the wedding, I would like you BOTH as well as Momo, Jihyo, Dahyun and Sana to come but if you two are just going to fight the whole time then--”_

“We wont!” Nayeon shouted a bit too loud, “I promise Momo and I wont fight with her.”

_“Umma has agreed to be civil.”_ Chaeyoung told her, _“Tzuyu means the world to me Umma, please just for one night and at the wedding. You both owe me one night.”_

Nayeon knew she was right.

“I will be civil if she will.” Nayeon sighed, taking a big gulp of wine, “So tell me about this girl.”

_“Huh?”_

“You could put her on the phone if she’s there.”

“Ooh loud speaker!” Was the not so quiet whisper from Jihyo,

Nayeon pressed the button.

They could hear Chaeyoung’s soppy smile through the phone, _“She’s shaking her head no looking terrified so if I want this wedding you’ll have to wait till you see her in person. But Umma she’s stunning, she could model if she wanted to! She loves animals, she’s a vet--”_

“A vet?”

_“Well sort of, she’s working her way up at a vets - right now she manages the reception.”_

Nayeon frowned, how would she provide for Chaeyoung on such a low salary?

_“When you meet her ask her about her job, she gets the biggest smile on her face when she talks about it - she glows Umma.”_

“She sounds,” Nayeon cleared her throat, “Nice.”

_“Nice…? Yeah, among everything else.”_ Chaeyoung suddenly felt nervous, _“You’ll love her Umma.”_

Sensing the tension Momo stepped in, “I’m sure she will! I’m invited too right?”

_“Of course!”_ Chaeyoung sounded relieved at Momo’s chipper voice, “ _So message me you schedule’s and we’ll organise a day to fly over.”_

“Fly?” Nayeon asked,

_“Yeah, Umma remember? I moved to Taiwan after college, to…er…follow Tzuyu actually.”_

“You were together in college?” Nayeon blinked, how much didn’t she know? “Your Umma said she’d pay for your ticket right?”

_“Yes.”_

“Then you’ll stay here, with us.”

_“Oh, Umma offered to pay for a hotel--”_

“Tell her to keep her money and you’ll stay with us at the house.” Nayeon snapped before Momo’s nudge calmed her, “Please, let me do this.”

_“Just in case,”_ Chaeyoung began tactfully, _“I would prefer to be in a hotel, but if you want to--”_

“Of course, I’ll pay for the finest room in Seoul I promise.”

_“Okay,”_ Chaeyoung said, _“Well it was nice talking to you all, I’ll let you get on. See you soon!”_

Once Chaeyoung had hung up Nayeon downed the rest of her wine.

“Let’s continue the celebration ladies,” Her smile was faked, “My baby’s getting married!”

___

_Breaking News!_

_Child of ex-power couple Yoo-Im Chaeyoung has just been spotted getting of a plane at an airport in Seoul with an unknown woman. Rumours say this unknown women is Yoo-Im’s fiancée, photos of this mysterious, beautiful woman are already going viral. Is there a meet the parents on the way?_

_Stay tuned for more updates as they come!_

_____

“I did not enjoy that.” Tzuyu stated once they were in the safety of their hotel room,

The moment they stepped out of the airport they had been bombarded by press, Chaeyoung had been stupid enough to think she’d be treated normally. Turns out someone had let slip she was coming back and the duo had been attacked by flashing lights with no security. Luckily Chaeyoung had experience with this and had grabbed Tzuyu’s hand to keep her moving the way her Ummas had done for her. The driver Umma Nayeon had sent knew how to ditch anyone following them and so they arrived at the hotel safely. Chaeyoung felt awful, Tzuyu was shy by nature and she looked terrified.

“Sorry,” Chaeyoung sighed hugging the shaking girl, “I should’ve thought of that.”

“I-It’s okay.” Tzuyu smiled at her, “Just…didn’t expect it I guess.”

Chaeyoung released her and went to the mini bar, if Umma was paying she was getting snacks!

“This hotel is stunning…” Tzuyu looked around the room, scared to touch anything, “I’m not ready for this I brought change for a vending machine.”

Chaeyoung laughed and opened the bag of peanuts, “Nut?”

Tzuyu’s eyes widened, “Chaeng those are mini bar nuts! They’re expensive!”

Chaeyoung smiled and popped one in her mouth, “They taste expensive.” Her face turned to disgust and she spat it out, “I do not like nuts.”

“Understatement of the century.”

Chaeyoung laughed again and jumped back onto the large bed, laying on it as Tzuyu continued trying to get her mind round all this. The usually tall girl looked so small looking up at everything. It was hard sometimes for Chaeyoung to remember not everyone grew up in the lavish lifestyle that she did. Sure now she played the role of the starving artist but before she lived a life of luxury. Fancy hotels, private schools, everything her heart desired. But now her heart wanted something different, part of her wished it was just her and Tzuyu at their little two bedroom apartment. Still, watching Tzuyu’s reaction was adorable enough to get rid of homesickness for a moment.

“You know,” Chaeyoung said after a moment, swinging her legs over the end of the bed and pulling Tzuyu by her waist to stand between them, “This is an expensive bed.”

Tzuyu’s expression changed to a playful one, “Really?”

“Mmhm,” Chaeyoung smirked up at her, “It feels expensive too.”

Chaeyoung pulled Tzuyu down on top of her, earning a squeal and she above her so that Tzuyu’s back was against the bed.

“Comfy?”

“Very.”

Tzuyu sat up a little to meet her lips and Chaeyoung was glad to close the gap, pushing the girl backwards and planning to make good use of this very expensive hotel room. With Tzuyu working a lot lately and Chaeyoung constantly worrying about meeting her parents tonight they hadn’t been intimate in quite a while. They planned to use this getaway as a little pre-wedding vacation, besides nothing wrong with consummating the marriage early. The kiss was hot and heavy, Tzuyu’s hands cupping Chaeyoung’s neck as her own slipped underneath her girlfriend’s shirt and splaying across her toned stomach. Tzuyu gasped and Chaeyoung slipped her tongue in to do battle with hers. Nails raked gently up and down her stomach, stuck between wanting to move up further and enjoying the little noises Tzuyu made. After a moment Chaeyoung leaned back to try and pull Tzuyu’s shirt off….

_Knock, knock, knock._

Tzuyu grabbed the smaller woman’s hands, stopping her, “Chae there’s someone at the door.”

Chaeyoung moved to her neck and began creating a hickey, mumbling against her skin, “Ignore them, they’ll leave.”

_Knock, knock, knock._

Tzuyu let out a little noise when Chaeyoung sucked a bit too hard, “Chae…”

_BANG, BANG, BANG!_

Both girls froze in fright at the hammering, they exchanged a look and Chaeyoung groaned before standing up. Tzuyu remained sat on the bed trying to make herself look a bit less like she and Chaeyoung had been going at it like bunnies. They didn’t even get that far. The moment Chaeyoung had cracked the door open it was shoved the whole way and in walked Im Nayeon - dressed head to toe in money and followed by an equally excited Momo. Tzuyu felt a new wave of nerves hit her at the sight of the VERY famous Im Nayeon stood in the hotel room in which she had been hooking up with her only child.

“Umma!” Chaeyoung said, “You’re early!”

“Of course, darling!” Nayeon smiled pecking her daughter on the cheek, “I wanted to see you! There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

Momo took in the younger girls’ dishevelled appearances and eyed the red mark on Tzuyu’s neck, “Are we were interrupting something?”

Tzuyu wanted the very expensive bed to swallow her.

“Chaeyoung-ah!” Nayeon scolded, hitting the back of her daughters head and earning a hiss, “You’ve been in here, what, ten minutes? And you jumped the poor girl!? I raised you better...”

Chaeyoung rubbed the back of her head, biting back a comment.

Nayeon’s eyes locked on to the embarrassed girl sat on the bed, “So this must be Tzuyu!”

Tzuyu stood and bowed immediately as the elder woman approached her, scrutinising her. She reached out and tilted Tzuyu’s chin up, “She’s beautiful. My Chaeyoungie has good taste!”

“She’s right there Nayeon,” Momo chuckled, “Sorry Tzuyu, she’s just excited.”

“I-It’s okay…” Tzuyu stammered,

“This is Momo,” Chaeyoung introduced, “Momo’s my step-mother. Saving grace of the family!”

Momo smiled, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

Nayeon was no longer touching Tzuyu’s face, which the younger woman was happy about, but she was still staring at her, “So let me see the ring.”

Tzuyu raised her hand and Nayeon looked at the ring, fake smile very visible, “It’s rather….small.”

Chaeyoung cleared her throat, “I bought it with some money I got from an exhibit I did.”

“An exhibit?” Nayeon turned to look at her daughter, fake smile replaced by a genuine beam, “You’re an artist? Chaeyoung I’m so proud!”

“Her stuff is amazing!” Tzuyu added, “Everyone says she’s going to be the next Van Gough. She’s started making real profit from commissions too.”

“Sweetie you should have told me,” Nayeon frowned, walking up to place her hand on Chaeyoung’s shoulder, “I would have helped promote you, why didn’t I know?”

“She publishes under a pseudonym--”

“Tzuyu!”

“Sorry…”

“Chaeyoung!” Nayeon scolded, “I would have helped you, even if you wanted me to give you anonymity.”

Chaeyoung sighed, “I wanted to do it myself, no handouts.”

“And you better be buying this girl a proper ring! Name a price and I’ll pay for it as a gift!”

“Umma!” Chaeyoung whined, feeling like a little girl again,

“I love the ring,” Tzuyu spoke up, “I didn’t need anything flashy.”

“It’s a lovely ring,” Momo said, looking it over for herself, “Chaeyoung certainly has good taste.”

Chaeyoung grabbed Tzuyu’s hand, “I’m good at finding beautiful things.”

Momo laughed, “Oh God, Sana is definitely your aunt.”

As the three, mainly Chaeyoung and Momo, talked Nayeon continued her assessment of the woman in front of her. They looked happy enough and the pitiful ring was a good sign Tzuyu wasn’t there for the money aspect. It was the way Chaeyoung looked at her though that caused unease to flood through her, Chaeyoung was the spitting image of her other Umma sometimes and Nayeon had seen that identical look directed at herself before. That had been a long time ago and hadn’t ended well, she never wanted her daughter to go through that. Ever. This girl would only be known as ‘girl’ until she proved she made Chaeyoung happy.

“Right, I brought some dresses!” Nayeon announced gesturing to the two garment bags,

“Dresses?” Chaeyoung asked, confused,

“Well we’re going to a fancy restraunt and I didn’t know if your receptionist would have anything suitable.”

“Umma!” Chaeyoung snapped,

“Nayeon, please.” Momo said, “Dial it back a little.”

“Sorry,” Nayeon blinked, “I thought it’d be nice to buy you both matching dresses.”

Chaeyoung was ready to explode but Tzuyu had always been the diplomatic one, “Thank you Mrs Im. I’m sure the dress is lovely. But how did you get my measurements?”

Nayeon froze, “Well we should be going, only dropped in to say hello!”

Chaeyoung thought bitterly that the real reason was most likely so Nayeon could say she met Tzuyu first.

“It was lovely to meet you,” Nayeon smiled, fake, before looking to Chaeyoung with a mischievous grin, “I’ll let you continue your…relaxing.”

“Umma~” Chaeyoung whined,

Nayeon cackled good naturedly and hugged her daughter, “I’ll see you later, don’t let your Umma frighten her off.”

“I wont Umma.”

Momo smiled kindly at Tzuyu, “My wife has good intentions, just bad execution. We’ll see you both later, have fun!”

Chaeyoung groaned again and slammed the door behind them as they laugher at her expense.

“Your Umma hates me, right?”

“I think she’d hate anyone I brought home.” Chaeyoung sighed,

“Great.”

“So where were--”

“No way.”

___

Jeongyeon had arrived at the restaurant with Jihyo and the Kim’s first. She was nervous, rumour had it Nayeon had met them at the hotel and so already had an in with Tzuyu. Jeongyeon really wanted it to go well, she was lonely and wanted to at least have her daughter back. Her friends were good but she knew they were all walking between the two of them trying to keep things civil. Tonight wasn’t about all that though, it was about Chaeyoung introducing them all to her fiancée. Still this would be the first time since their final court appearance that Jeongyeon and Nayeon had been in the same room. It would also be the first time Jeongyeon had been properly introduced to Momo. Home wrecker.

As she sat at the table, nervously playing with the napkin, she thought over how she would act tonight. No pettiness, be civil. It’s been a very long time since she and Nayeon finalised their divorce. She should be over it by now….shouldn’t she? Suddenly Sana gave a shout and Jeongyeon took a deep breath before turning round in her seat, there she was. Screaming elegance and money in her faux fur coat, she refused to make eye contact with Jeongyeon and instead looked past her to where their mutual friends sat. Behind her was the home wrecker whom Jeongyeon wasted no time on, then came a face Jeongyeon was embarrassed to admit she hadn’t seen in a very long time. Jeongyeon stood and walked over to her daughter who smiled warmly at her.

“Baby cub!” She greeted, hugging her tightly, “How’s my girl?”

“Umma! I’m well,” Chaeyoung pulled away and held her hand out to a tall girl who looked terrified, “This is my Tzuyu.”

Tzuyu bowed, “Thank you for paying for our flights.”

“No need for that,” Jeongyeon smiled, “It’s nice to meet you Tzuyu, my Chae treating you well?”

“Of course Ms Yoo.” Tzuyu smiled back, grateful to hear this mother use her name,

“I’m glad!”

“Jeongyeon.” _She_ spat from behind her,

Jeongyeon fought back the eye-roll, that wouldn’t be civil, “Nayeon.”

A frosty atmosphere settled as the group sat at the table. Luckily the buffers did their job and kept conversation flowing, Sana mostly asking Tzuyu various questions about random topics. Soon the appetizers were placed down and conversation was running somewhat smoothly.

“So Tzuyu,” Dahyun asked, “What do your parents do?”

“They own a little cafe back home,” Tzuyu answered, noting how pathetic that sounded with the amount of celebrities in this private room, “I worked with them up until last year.”

“It’s a nice little place, you’d like it Dahyun-Unnie.”

“We should go see it sometime,” Momo said kindly, “Feel like we need to get to know the in-laws.”

Jeongyeon snorted.

“Problem?” Nayeon asked angrily,

“Nothing, nothing.” Jeongyeon lied,

“No, no - go on!”

Chaeyoung sighed, “Please don’t start.”

“I’m not starting, your Umma obviously has something to say.”

Jeongyeon looked at Nayeon for a second before putting down her cutlery, “I just think it’s funny that Momo thinks of herself as an in-law.”

“Umma!” Chaeyoung snapped,

The frost tension was back.

“She is her step-mother.” Was Nayeon’s grit teeth response, “If Chaeyoung would like her to meet Tzuyu’s family she will.”

Jeongyeon went to say more but seeing how frustrated Chaeyoung looked she stopped herself and went back to eating. The appetizers disappeared quickly, awkward silence being masked by eating. It was the main course where things really went south.

“So what was Chaeyoung like as a kid?” Tzuyu asked, “My brother spilled all my secrets, I need something to hold over her head.”

“Easy to do with the height difference.” Jihyo joked, laughing as Chaeyoung whined,

“Reckless, a pain in the ass! She once rode a shopping trolley down her Umma’s driveway.” Momo chuckled, “I happened to be walking through the gate and she knocked me down like a bowling pin.”

“Wait you were around when I did that?” Chaeyoung asked,

Momo nodded, “You were eleven I believe.”

“I don’t blame you for being confused, there was a cross over period.”

“Umma!”

“Jeongyeon!”

Momo glared at her, “You know full well Nayeon and I were never together while you both were married.”

“Sure.” Jeongyeon growled back, “You know what Chae? Don’t do it. Don’t marry her. I’m sorry Tzuyu you seem lovely but so did she when I proposed - it’s a lie don’t do it!”

Nayeon was seething, “Me? You were the one who drank away all our money, I’m surprised you could even pay for their plane tickets with how much debt you’re in.”

“I paid all that off when I got sober and you damn well know it!”

“Yes, about nineteen years to late when our daughter was in college!” Nayeon snapped, “You disappeared before that!”

“Because you told me not to come round the house to see her so much!”

“Because you dragged me into that custody battle, you tried to take Chaeyoung away from me!”

“Because you decided to play happy families with your new girlfriend and MY daughter!”

“Because you---”

“ENOUGH!”

All eyes flicked to Tzuyu who was holding on to Chaeyoung, the shorter girl had her hands gripped into fists on the table as she tried and failed to blink back tears. She was shaking.

Tzuyu looked at the two women, furious, “Can’t you see what you’re doing to her? Don’t you care?”

“Chae…” Nayeon began,

“Don’t.” Chaeyoung looked up, “Why do you always do this? You yell and argue and fight and badmouth each other and you drag me in the middle.”

She looked at Jeongyeon.

“Why do you always have to treat Momo like dirt? I get it, she’s with your ex-wife but when you two were too busy fighting each other she was the one raising me. Making sure I was fed and loved and picked up from school. Jihyo helped me with my homework, Sana taught me how to talk to women. Hell I came out to Dahyun before I came out to either of you!”

She looked at Nayeon.

“You have treated Tzuyu like dirt since she arrived and I tolerated it because that’s how you are. The same way I tolerated all those embarrassing things you wrote about me in your stupid book. You only ever care about your image, not about how the kids at school picked on me because of the PRIVATE things you wrote about. You care more about Tzuyu being a lowly receptionist than about her being in a job that makes her happy.”

She looked at them both, then stood, “This was a stupid idea. You’ll never change. Come on Tzu.”

Tzuyu began to gather their things.

“Chaeyoung, wait please we can be civil---”

“No you can’t,” Chaeyoung laughed, a hard sarcastic puff of air disguised as a chuckle, “You obviously hate each other more than you love me and I’ve made my peace with that. But I can’t have you ruin my wedding. So you’re uninvited - both of you.”

With that she stormed out followed by Tzuyu. When they got to the street Chaeyoung fell sobbing into her girlfriends arms. It was stupid of her to think something would change. Back at the table there was a moment of pure, pin drop silence. Then Momo stood.

“Where are you going?” Sana asked,

“Someone needs to drive them back to the hotel and I think those two need a talk.”

“Or their heads banging together.” Jihyo muttered, “You two used to be so close, what happened?”

The ex-couple exchanged a look, they couldn’t even remember any more.

“We should probably talk, properly.”

“I agree.”

___

Jihyo had called Chaeyoung over to her place the next day.

Honestly, all Chaeyoung wanted to do was go home to her two bedroom apartment in Tainan with her girlfriend and forget all this ever happened. But Tzuyu had convinced her to try one final time, all or nothing. She even promised to go full Dark!Tzuyu on her Ummas if they even thought about fighting. Chaeyoung appreciated the thought but Tzuyu was such a dork she couldn’t be threatening if she tried. They were greeted with big hugs from Jihyo when they walked in, Jihyo commenting that Chaeyoung was an adult now and it had finally hit her blah, blah, blah.

They were lead inside but Jihyo stopped them from heading too far in.

“So Tzuyu the others are all in the kitchen with some snacks and an interrogation waiting.” Jihyo began making the younger go pale, “And providing they haven’t killed each other, Chae - your Ummas are waiting for you in the living room. No fighting this time, they promise.”

Chaeyoung looked sceptical so Tzuyu stepped in, “It’s up to you, you can talk to them if you want. I’ll be in the other room the whole time and if they start fighting we go back to the hotel right away and pack. It’s your choice Chae.”

Chaeyoung pecked her lips, “Okay, I love you.”

“Love you too.” Tzuyu blushed when Jihyo began cooing at them, she switched briefly to Mandarin, “Meanwhile, I’ll go get ripped apart by the coven.”

Chaeyoung chuckled and watched her go, stealing herself for a moment to gather confidence she walked into the living room where sure enough her Ummas were - not fighting.

“Talk.” Was all she said, sitting in the armchair and staring at the ex-couple on the sofa,

Jeongyeon cleared her throat, “We want to apologise, stupidly it never occurred to us that our ridiculous fighting was hurting you. We were so focused on hurting each other we just…we just wanted to cause pain and you should never have been in the middle. It wasn’t fair.”

“We want you to know we love you,” Nayeon had been crying, Chaeyoung could tell and it broke her heart, “And that we’re sorry for not showing it. Somehow through everything that happened we lost our way and forgot that the world didn’t need to see into our private lives. I personally want to apologise for the book, I know it’s overdue but we went over it together last night and it…it’s humiliating. For us all. I should never have written it.”

“I can’t promise we’ll always get along Chae,” Jeongyeon sighed, “Too much water under the bridge and it floods. But, we do not hate each other more than we love you. You are our world and we’re very sorry for forgetting that I don’t have it in me to like your step-monst…Momo, I just…I can’t - call it petty or childish I just can’t. But you are right, this morning I thanked her for all she’s done for you. She stepped up to raise you when it should not have been up to her and you’ve turned into an upstanding young lady, something you probably didn’t learn from the two of us.”

“What we’re saying is: we’re willing to try. For real this time.” Nayeon concluded, “We talked everything through, everything is out in the open now.”

“What changed?” Chaeyoung asked, not believing them after having her hopes dashed before,

The couple exchanged a look.

“Yesterday when Tzuyu asked us for stories, we couldn’t think of any.” Nayeon admitted, “And that nearly killed me. We couldn’t even remember what it was when things started to go wrong, we supposed it was just that we fell out of love and into denial. We stopped loving each other but we never wanted you to think we stopped loving you too.”

“An apology wont make up for years of damage.”

“We know.” Jeongyeon told her earnestly, “But we’re hoping it’ll be a step in the right direction.”

Chaeyoung looked between them searching for the lie, eventually she smiled and lunged forward to wrap both in a hug.

“Please don’t let me down.”

“We wont.”

“We promise.”

___

“Everything good?” Tzuyu asked when the red eyed trio appeared in the dining room,

“Yes.” Chaeyoung grinned walking over and kissing her cheek,

“Aww!” Sana was enjoying this too much,

“What have you been talking about?” Chaeyoung asked letting Tzuyu back hug her from the stool she was sat on,

“Sana’s been telling me about her family who are definitely not Yakuza. Can’t break your heart now, I like my knee caps.”

“Good to know.”

Nayeon cleared her throat softly, Chaeyoung realised what was happening and went off to talk to Momo who was cooking lunch. Tzuyu looked terrified again, Nayeon really did scare her.

“Tzuyu I fear I was rather…unfair yesterday.” Nayeon began, “Chaeyoung’s my baby and nobody will ever be good enough for her.”

_Ouch…_

“However, out of everyone in the world you are probably the closest I’ll get to good enough so…C+.”

“Thank you, I think….?”

“Take the compliment, it’s kind of how Nayeon is.” Dahyun sighed, “You’ll never be able to tell if she’s complimenting you or not.”

Tzuyu chuckled, “I’m glad everything worked out, your daughter deserves the best.”

“You’re right there.” Nayeon smiled watching as her daughter joked with her wife, “Thank you for looking after her when we weren’t.”

Tzuyu smiled, “I always will.” Something dawned on her, “Which reminds me!”

She stood up and walked over to Chaeyoung, pulling the confused girl into the centre of the room.

“I was going to do this yesterday before everything got…tense.” Tzuyu was practically vibrating,

She produced a box from her pocket and dropped down on one knee, “Your turn.”

Chaeyoung froze, this was not part of the plan. Half of her screamed to think of something suave and cool to say while the other half just began having a breakdown and loudly crying. Out of respect I wont tell you which one Chaeyoung went with, though I will say when Tzuyu brings it up in the future she uses the words “bawled like a baby”.

“Chae,” Tzuyu smiled, “I love you and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life walking into paintings you’ve hung up to dry and tripping over the easel you’ve inevitably left in our tiny living room. Plus if you say no it’s gonna be a super awkward plane ride home.”

She opened the box revealing a ring.

“Will you marry me?”

“Of course you idiot.”

Tzuyu put the ring on her and stood to receive her kiss, everyone applauded and Nayeon found herself finding Jeongyeon’s eyes. This time there was no hatred or animosity, just pride. That was their girl, their bright, beautiful, talented daughter who had the world at her feet and they were so unbelievably proud. They had made a lot of mess during their time both together and whilst separating but Chaeyoung was the one thing they did right. They would never forget that again. Nayeon sent a nod to her ex-wife and Jeongyeon smiled at her, maybe civil would be easy. They agreed they never had to be as close as they were but perhaps one day they would regain the friendship. Wishful thinking but today, more than any other, it seemed like it could happen if they both tried.

“Hey! You bought a bigger ring than I did!” Chaeyoung complained,

“Now, now Chaeyoung-ah, size isn’t important.” Sana smirked,

“It is in this context!”


End file.
